This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, click the "Reprints" link at the bottom of any article.

February 26, 2013

Top 25 Finance Company 401(k) Plans: BrightScope

Average account balance is $188,218 and participation rate is 96.85%, research firm BrightScope reports

To judge by the 401(k) plans that companies in the finance and insurance industry offer their own employees, they’re doing a good job of doing unto themselves as they would have others do.

According to San Diego-based investment research firm BrightScope Inc.’s listing of top 25 companies in the industry for best 401(k) plans, the average account balance is $188,218 with a participation rate of 96.85%.

Average company generosity for the top plans totals $13,704, compared with the nationwide median of $12,066, while average salary deferral for plans listed is $10,514 versus a median of $10,081. Thirteen of the plans on the list have immediate vesting, eight have graded vesting and the remaining four have cliff vesting.

“Financial services companies play a critical role in providing the investment and insurance products that deliver retirement outcomes for millions of ordinary Americans," said Mike Alfred, BrightScope’s CEO and co-founder, in a statement. “By offering robust 401(k) plans, these companies demonstrate their knowledge firsthand by promoting a promising financial future for their own employees.”

BrightScope obtains an increasing amount of its data directly from plan sponsors and record keepers, and augments these primary sources with data from publicly available sources such as the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The data cover broad categories such as total plan cost, company generosity and investment menu quality. BrightScope has rated nearly 50,000 401(k) plans, spanning more than 30 million workers and more than $2 trillion in assets.

The top 25 finance and insurance companies with the highest ranked 401(k) plan containing more than $100 million in assets are as follows, including company name, plan name and BrightScope rating on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the highest: